#shirley chisholm
Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.
-Shirley Chisholm, first African-American woman elected to U.S. Congress
This is NOT a drill! We’ve got action.
Sweatpants & History | Rosa Parks and Her Lifetime of Activism
Today, on what would have been her 104th birthday, Rosa Parks’ contribution to the Civil Rights Movement is honored—in two states: California and Missouri (Ohio and Oregon observe Rosa Parks Day on December 1, the anniversary of her arrest). Only four out of fifty states have proclaimed a day to honor the woman often dubbed “the first lady of civil rights.” Aside from being a missed opportunity…
I finally found out what rubs me the wrong way about so many takes that claim that Azula would not or could not change for the better: they lack moral imagination.
This whole thing is worth listening to, but I’m particularly interested in the story of Shirley Chisholm and George Wallace. In Chisholm’s own words:
“We’re all human beings. You always have to be optimistic that people can change, and that you can change, and that one act of kindness may make all the difference in the world.”
Rabbi Telushkin follows up:
“People are different when they are vulnerable. She [Chisholm] understood that.”
This sounds familiar. Where have we heard it before?
“When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” —Avatar Aang, Avatar: Legend of Korra
And yet, fandom often has such a paucity of moral imagination that they can’t even entertain the idea that Azula, a fourteen-year-old child, can change for the better without someone coercing her into it. They can’t imagine that kindness and empathy could transform Azula in ways that fear and manipulation cannot.
Link to the Shirley Chisholm and George Wallace thing.
Remembering “unbought and unbossed” Shirley Chisholm, who became the first woman AND the first African American to run for the nomination of a major party for President of the United States in 1972. <3
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Today on the Podcast: Fighting Shirley Chisholm
“Fighting” Shirley Chisholm didn’t want to be known solely as the first African-American woman in U.S. Congress and to run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Cristen and Caroline detail the inspiring, heart-wrenching biography and legacy of this Brooklyn educator ahead of her time.
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Shirley Chisholm. As the first black woman to run for president for a major political party, she was years ahead of her time. So why don’t more people know about her?
- She championed a bill to ensure domestic workers received benefits, was an advocate for improved access to education, and fought for the rights of immigrants.
- “She had guts, and she made people believe that they too can be someone, that we are equal, that gender doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the highest office of government,” her goddaughter Marya Boseley says.
- That desire to break boundaries was what drove Shirley Chisholm to make a run for president in 1972, seeking the Democratic nomination a mere three years after she became a congresswoman.
- Ms Chisholm, whose slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed,” said she never expected to win but hoped her candidacy would “change the face and future of American politics”.
- “I stand before you today, to repudiate the ridiculous notion that the American people will not vote for qualified candidates, simply because he is not white or because she is not a male,” she told supporters as she launched her campaign.
I never heard her name in school. Other than hearing Method Man say “I voted for Shirley Chisholm” on Blackout, I knew nothing about her til I read about her on the internet as an adult.
The Democratic Party really fucked Shirley Chisolm over because they wanted a “safe” candidate in George Mcgovern. Then they lost to Nixon.
#BlackHistory #BlackGirlMagic #BlackPride
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Before Hillary Clinton or even Barack Obama, there was Shirley Chisholm. Fourty-five years ago, Chisholm became the first African-American woman to run for president. Although that’s a historic accomplishment, that’s only the beginning to her story.
Born 1924 in Brooklyn, New York, Chisholm spent most of her earlier years with her grandmother in Barbados. Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946. She earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in elementary education. Even though many recognize her for being a social activist, Chisholm started her professional career as a teacher. She then served as director at Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959. Afterwards, Chisholm worked as an educational consultant for New York City’s Bureau of Child Welfare until 1964.
Making history is what Chisholm did best. In 1968, she was the first African-American woman elected to Congress, where she served seven terms. At first, they assigned her to the House Forestry Committee, but she demanded a reassignment. Instead, they placed her on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which led her to be on the Education and Labor Committee. She also became one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Women’s Caucus.
Chisholm broke history again a few years later when she was elected to Congress. In 1972, she announced that she would be running for the Democratic nomination for the president of the United States.
“I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the woman’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that.”
–Shirley Chisholm
Many African-American women showed their support for her campaign. Yet, sexism and discrimination kept her from consolidating the women and minority vote. In the end, Chisholm won 152 votes, which wasn’t enough to secure her nomination. That didn’t stop her, though. After she left Congress in 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke College.
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She then married Arthur Hardwick, Jr. in 1986. She is the author of two books, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight(1973).
On January 1, 2005, Chisholm died before she could see the historic Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2008.
Photo Source: Library of Congress
Source:Biography.com
Source:Huffington Post
Source:Smithsonian Mag
Source:Smithsonian Mag
Source:History.com
Writing:maryyalyssa
